MANILA, Philippines — Three major dams in the Cordillera Administrative Region and Cagayan Valley have started releasing water as they neared their spilling levels due to rains in the watersheds caused by the easterlies.
Hydrologists from the Hydrometeorology Division of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that as of 8 a.m. Tuesday one gate of Ambuklao Dam in Bokod town, Benguet, was opened with an outflow of 65.00 centimeters.
In Itogon, also in the same province, two control gates of Binga Dam were unlocked with an opening measured at 0.80 meters (m) and an outflow of 104 cms, Pagasa said.
Ambuklao’s reservoir water level (RWL) was at 750.93 m or just short of -1.07 m before reaching its normal high water level (NHWL) of 752 m or its spilling level.
Meanwhile, Binga Dam’s RWL was measured at 574.21 m against its NHWL of 575 m or a deviation of -0.79 m, the weather bureau said.
In Cagayan Valley, the Magat Dam in Alfonso Lista, Ifugao/ Ramon, Isabela, has two gates with an opening measured at three meters and with an outflow of 561.00 cms, the state weather bureau said.
With its NHWL at 193 m, Magat’s RWL, in the same period, was at 188.62 m, it added.
Asked why the three dams were releasing water despite the absence of incessant rains during the past days, state hydrologists said that there were rains in the watersheds where the dams were located due to the easterlies.
Meanwhile, Angat Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan, the main source of water for Metro Manila and irrigation for its adjoining provinces, measured 196.50 m, far from its spilling level of 210 m.
